How did the Barbie doll get its name?
Ruth Handler (co-founder of Mattel, the company that marketed and manufactured Barbie dolls) had noted that her daughter Barbara preferred playing with paper dolls that looked like adults rather than like children. When in Europe, she noticed a German doll named Lilli and bought it for Barbara. Ruth Handler and Elliott Handler, the co-founders of Mattel, bought the rights to market Lilli: with a hair color change from blonde to brunette, and a name change to Barbie (after Ruth’s daughter Barbara) she was sold in the United States starting in 1959 at New York’s annual Toy Fair.
